On Sunday, incoming BYU Cougars freshman big man Fousseyni Traore played against the United States in an international tournament, and with that came a matchup versus a future West Coast Conference foe and top NBA prospect.
In the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Latvia on Sunday, Traore and Mali fell to the United States 100-52 in Group D play. The United States moved to 2-0 in the tournament while Mali dropped to 0-2.
Traore, who hails from Mali but played high school ball at Wasatch Academy in Utah, played 22:31 Sunday and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.
On the United States squad is Chet Holmgren, the top prospect in the country for the Class of 2021 and the top prospect for the 2022 NBA draft who is headed to Gonzaga, BYU’s WCC foe. Holmgren finished with 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks.
The United States led by just six after the first quarter before extending the lead to 19 at halftime, and then it outscored Mali 45-16 in the second half to move to 2-0 in the tournament.
Both the United States and Mali have one more group game remaining in the tournament on Tuesday before knockout rounds begin on Friday. The United States will face Australia and Mali will play Turkey.